It’s always wise to ask for advice, especially from people more experienced than you.

So once you’ve written your personal statement, it’s definitely a good idea to ask someone to check through it. It’s very hard to proof-read your own work.

BUT the more people you ask, the more opinions you’ll get. If you’re not careful you’ll lose control of the whole process and your personal statement will be a mess.

At the same time, don’t let one person’s advice dominate your thinking. Worse, don’t let – or ask – someone else to write your personal statement for you. I’ve seen brilliant personal statements – that were obviously written by the candidate’s parents. Admissions tutors aren’t stupid; after all, they do work in universities.